


flip side

by stefonzolesky



Category: Animal House (Movies)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash, if anyone reads this i'll continue it but probably nobody will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 05:03:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17842982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stefonzolesky/pseuds/stefonzolesky
Summary: The year is 1970, and Donald Schoenstein is hearing something he hasn’t heard in a long time.





	flip side

The year is 1970, and Donald Schoenstein is hearing something he hasn’t heard in a long time. 

His years with Katy felt five times longer than they were, and when he looks in the mirror, he sees himself as this… weathered old man that he knows he isn’t. Because she sucked the life out of him.

He’s been this hollowed-out shell walking around for a year, going through the motions day-in and day-out. Being expelled from college with the rest of Delta is just some fever dream he had.

Years passed slowly. And now, Donald is hearing someone say his name.

“Boon!”

He shakes himself out of his thoughts the second time he hears it, and another shot slides down his throat as he turns to face the voice.

He blinks. “Eric?”

Eric laughs.

“What, just because it’s been some years, you think you’re too good for me?”

There’s an empty seat at the bar right next to him, and Donald finds himself wishing it wasn’t there as the man himself, Eric Stratton, takes a seat.

He laughs into his drink. “Yeah, no -- I mean. No. I don’t.”

“Come on, Boon, you know I’m only kidding.” Eric leans forward on the counter, eyes wide. “How have you been? Where’s Katy? Are you two still together?”

Donald blinks. “No.”

He swallows and his mouth tastes like fire. Eric claps a hand on his shoulder and says, “That’s too bad. Hoover and I had a bet, you know. I thought you’d get married.”

And suddenly, Donald remembers everything all too well. He shrugs Eric’s hand off of his shoulder.

“We did,” He says, sour. “We got married. And then we got divorced.”

He can’t see Eric’s face, but he can feel the disappointment. There should be some sort of sentimentality there. There isn’t.

“Damn. I guess that means we’ve gotta pay up to D-Day. Nobody can find him, though, the bastard. That’s just like him. Say, Boon, d’you think --”

Of course Eric never grew up.

“Donald,” He says.

Eric blinks. “Sorry?”

“That’s my name.”

The music from the jukebox in the back of the bar is drumming on Donald’s head. Eric laughs.

“That’s bull, is what that is. Donald? Since when did you decide that?”

“Since Katy left me last year. Listen, Eric --”

“-- Stratton. Rush chairman. Damn glad to meet ya,” Eric says, before Donald can finish. “I said that for show, you know that? You’re trying to seperate yourself from Delta, aren’t you? That’s why you didn’t invite me to yours and Katy’s wedding, isn’t it?”

Those are a lot of questions, though, and Donald thinks that he doesn’t have to answer any of them. “What have you been up to these days, Eric?”

“Nothing too much, Boon,” Eric says pointedly.

Donald rolls his eyes. “Ha-ha,” He says sarcastically. “Very funny.”

Eric laughs and leans forward against the counter. “I’ll say. Why didn’t you invite me to your wedding? I thought we were friends.”

In all honesty, Donald can’t remember why. He thinks he might have enjoyed himself more had Eric been there.

“I don’t know,” He says. “But if I figure it out, I’ll be sure to give you a call.”

They sit in silence for a while. For a little too long.

“Quit calling me Eric.”

Donald blinks. “What?”

He looks over at Eric --  _ Otter _ \-- who is looking at him in some sort of way, something he’s never seen.

“I said,” He says. “Quit calling me Eric. It’s just odd, coming from you. Like if you started calling Bluto by his first name, but worse.”

Donald stifles a laugh. “ _John_.”

Otter laughs, putting his head down on the bar in front of him.

“We miss you, you know” He says. Softly -- but Otter’s never been soft. “I miss you, I mean.”

Boon can’t help but miss him too.


End file.
